Tuesday, 17 September 2013 00:50
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Between Chopard and cinema, there blooms a romance worthy of the big screen’s most beautiful love stories. Year after year, grand events and promising encounters continue to enrich Chopard’s magnificent array of partnerships. Today, this unique relationship has been given a new brilliance, because the Geneva-based jeweller is embarking on a new and exclusive collaboration: Chopard has worked with a Costume Designer to select jewellery for Naomi Watts in the much-anticipated film ‘Diana’, about the late Princess of Wales, which opens in cinemas in September and is produced by Award winning British company Ecosse Films.
For many years, Chopard, the jeweller of choice for the stars of the red carpet, has been passionately involved in the world of cinema. As well as participating in major international events such as the Cannes Film Festival, where it is an official partner and for which it created the Palme d’Or, the Swiss jeweller also unearths young talent through the Chopard Trophy, an award that shines the spotlight on the stars of tomorrow. Chopard will shirk no challenge to feed its love of cinema. No surprise, then, that the Geneva-based firm has fulfilled the mission it received from the team of the film Diana, directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel, with talent and passion: to select pieces from its collections that Diana might have chosen to wear.
Although Chopard has already been involved in numerous feature films, such as ‘Elizabeth: The Golden Age’ (Shekhar Kapur), ‘Nine’ (Rob Marshall) and ‘Midnight in Paris’ (Woody Allen), the stakes here were particularly high, because not only did the jeweller have to provide a realistic insight into Diana’s extraordinary jewellery collection, but also to remind the world of her legendary elegance with discretion, charm and a modern touch.
Chopard Co-President and Artistic Director Caroline Scheufele reveals that she worked closely with Julian Day, the film’s Costume Designer and that he had very specific requests. “When I received the offer to work on the film Diana I was thrilled because, to me, she was a person blessed with extraordinary charisma and great elegance, both in her personality and her style. After having worked on the film Nine in 2009, this new partnership was exciting, even more so because Naomi Watts is a fantastic actress.”
Chopard was also the partner of the World Premiere of Diana at London’s Leicester square. Naomi Watts walked the red carpet glistening in Chopard jewels: the actress selected a unique pair of feather shaped earrings from the Haute Joaillerie collection featuring two sapphires of 7 cts each and diamonds, as well as a bracelet featuring fancy-cut diamonds.
In the final version of the film, a selection of Chopard watches, jewellery and bags appear on screen, including several watches and items of jewellery from the Happy Diamonds collections, but also High Jewellery creations that demonstrate Chopard’s extensive expertise in this field. Chatham Luxury makes this expertise available to Sri Lankan shoppers exclusively at their flagship store located at Galle Face Court.
The Swiss company has managed to put together an extremely coherent collection that matches the status and personality of the Princess of Wales perfectly. Julian Day says: “From the first reading of the Diana script, I realised that I was going to need magnificent jewellery. When the opportunity arose to work with Chopard, I knew that this was going to be possible. Their help has been invaluable.” Diana particularly liked wearing earrings because they suited her haircut; she often wore them without any other jewellery. Among the most iconic is a pair made from oval sapphires set with diamonds, echoing the earrings that matched her famous engagement ring. An expert mixture of glamour, simplicity and romanticism, the pieces reflect Diana’s style wonderfully. The Swiss jeweller could not have dreamt of a more gracious and mythical model as its inspiration. Years after those tragic events in Paris, the magic of cinema and the talent of designers like Chopard, are ensuring she is remembered as the caring and stylish woman she was.